The Sense of an Ending
Julian Barnes
There are books which tell stories-simple stories that make you happy, sad, intrigued, thrilled etc. as stories are generally expected to. Then there are books which philosophise, give direction to life, and this is generally expected to be the boring section of the plethora. These two broad categories often romance, creating newer styles, genres and sub-genres and giving newer meanings to arts and literature and in fact life at large. Julian Barnes' "The Sense of an Ending" can be called the product of this liasion. It starts at the end. Anthony Webster is a divorced, retired old man living his last days peacefully by himself and whose only fear is Alzheimers. An envelope from an unknown attorney comes as a pebble in the calm waters. Lost loves are rekindled, memories re-visited and slowly and steadily Tony comes to an understanding and indeed embracing of his self.While old convictions are shed, new questionings come up. The idea of memory as a process, which is forever in flux, is not only brought up but thoroughly scrutinized. Barnes also adds to the now mainstream idea of history as the story of the winners when he makes Old Joe Hunt say: "[History] is also the self-delusions of the defeated."
Indeed, towards the end the narrator does accept the truth of this statement which he had so vehemently protested as a teenager. Tony's version of Adrian's history slowly crumbles as he confronts the truths that were hidden for too long. The book is revolutionary in its own way as each turning page shakes your faith in the accepted "common sense" living. All in all a wonderful, if thought provoking read.
Having already won a Booker, the book hardly needs advertisement, but I still suggest multiple readings and re-readings. Have a nice time reading! :)
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